Word: balladic
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...melody freak," says Joel. Indeed, "big" neatly describes the size of the melodies as well as his enthusiasm for them. As demonstrated by his current hit single, a graceful ballad called Just the Way You Are, Joel harks back to the luxuriant strains of superb song craftsmen like Harold Arlen as much as he follows in the tradition of masters of rock-'n'-roll delirium like Phil Spector. His songs have also been covered by belters like Streisand and jazz stylists like Bobby Scott, and seem easily to snuggle into whatever groove comes...
...BEST, Billy Joel is known in the music world as a talented keyboard artist who sings moving ballads. Joel got that image with the release of Piano Man, his debut album on Columbia Records, which followed a virtually unknown and very rare release called Cold Spring Harbor. The title track from Piano Man, along with other slow ballads such as "Captain Jack" and the more upbeat "Ballad of Billy the Kid," created the in age for Joel, and he has continued it with songs such as "Miami 2107" and "I've Loved These Days...
...probably never break open the AM charts ("Stairway to Heaven" is one of the few songs that ever made the rise to fame despite a more-than-seven-minute duration), but the song stands out as an example of Joel's tremendous talent as a vocalist/instrumentalist/composer. From the slow, ballad-like start to the well-rhythmed second section, to the rapid, light-rock middle of the song, Joel controls all the elements of his music as he reminisces about high-school days. Amidst a superb clarinet melody and the fantastic saxophone that Richie Cannata always adds to Billy Joel...
...true. The windows are shut tight against a cold which seems even harsher compared to the tropical warmth of Havana and San Juan. But though forced inside by an inhospitable climate, the music will not be imprisoned. The salsa sound of Puerto Rico, or perhaps a Mexican ballad, filters faintly out to the street, signalling to the passerby that he walks in the heart of Cambridge's Hispanic neighborhood...
...listened to the ballad night after night. My imagination roamed free: I often saw Zahran and lived his heroism in dream and reverie: I wished I were Zahran...